Antibiotics

Patients live longer if they do not take antibiotics in month before immunotherapyTaking antibiotics in the month before starting immunotherapy dramatically reduces a cancer patient’s chances of survival, according to a small but groundbreaking study.S…

Scientists in UK identify growing trend that threatens to leave patients untreatableBacteria are increasingly developing ways of resisting antibiotics, threatening a future in which patients could become untreatable, doctors have warned.Over the last d…

Expert says growing awareness and antibiotic resistance are among factors in increaseHospital admissions in England for potentially deadly sepsis have more than doubled in three years.There were rises among all age groups, including the very young, pro…

Largest global study finds the drugs in two-thirds of test sites in 72 countriesHundreds of rivers around the world from the Thames to the Tigris are awash with dangerously high levels of antibiotics, the largest global study on the subject has found.A…

In a country where dirty water and poor sanitation jeopardise the lives of millions, moves are afoot to improve health facilitiesIt was midnight when Kalpana and Rohit Agri had to take their three-day-old daughter, Kritima, to Bardiya hospital in weste…

Thousands of women could be spared pain and long-term health problems, trial suggestsThousands of women every year could be spared painful and occasionally life-threatening infections if doctors administered preventive antibiotics after every assisted …

The GM virus treatment that saved Isabelle Holdaway is a start, at least, in the fight against drug resistanceThe first antibiotic was discovered by Paul Ehrlich in 1909 and cured syphilis-infected rabbits. At that time about 10% of the population of L…

Bacteria-killing viruses known as phages offer hope of solution to antibiotic resistanceA British teenager has made a remarkable recovery after being the first patient in the world to be given a genetically engineered virus to treat a drug-resistant in…

Dame Sally Davies calls for Extinction Rebellion-style campaign to raise awarenessProtests against climate change should be extended to the other greatest threat facing humanity, according to England’s chief medical officer, who says an Extinction Rebe…

Wildlife and human health are threatened say scientists as Syngenta accepts ‘undeniable demand’ for changePesticides and antibiotics are polluting streams across Europe, a study has found. Scientists say the contamination is dangerous for wildlife and …

Mucus that protects fish contains substances that could help tackle MRSA and E coliFish slime could be key to the development of new antibiotics, researchers say.Antibiotic resistance is a growing danger, with experts warning of a return to a situation…

Could the pharmaceutical industry become the test bed for a new approach?The rebellion against privatisation is growing, with the tide moving towards greater public control of key services. The pushback against privatisation can be seen everywhere. In …

UK’s superbugs tsar Lord Jim O’Neill compares idea to way banks were taken over after 2008 financial crashNationalised or state-run “utility” drug companies may be the only answer to the lack of investment in new antibiotics, former banker and superbug…

Antibiotic resistance is growing so fast that routine surgery could soon become impossible. But scientists are fighting back in the battle against infectionThe first antibiotic that didn’t work for Debbi Forsyth was trimethoprim. In March 2016, Forsyth…

Readers respond to a recent article and letter published in the GuardianI would like to clarify that, contrary to your article (The microbes are fighting back, and if anyone thinks there is a simple solution, they are wrong, 25 January), a few decades …

Discovery of genes, possibly carried by birds or humans, shows rapid spread of crisisGenes associated with antibiotic-resistant superbugs have been discovered in the high Arctic, one of the most remote places on earth, showing the rapid spread and glob…

Experts warn of an apocalypse but new drugs won’t be developed unless they can turn a profitAn apocalypse is looming, warn the public health experts. The spectre of a benighted world where humankind again falls prey to bacterial plagues, wiping out the…

Health secretary Matt Hancock says the drugs will be used only “when absolutely necessary”The NHS is aiming to cut the amount of antibiotics it uses by 15% by 2024 as part of a new drive to tackle the growing scourge of drug-resistant bugs, ministers h…

Health secretary Matt Hancock set to announce plans at World Economic Forum in DavosThe government is set to incentivise pharmaceutical companies to develop “urgently needed” drugs to fight antimicrobial resistant (AMR) superbugs, with the health secre…

Fast-food chain says it will measure the presence of the drugs in its biggest markets and set limits for use by the end of 2020McDonald’s has announced plans to reduce the use of antibiotics in its global beef supply, fuelling predictions that other re…